The invention relates to a flat-bed knitting machine comprising flexible shank needles arranged in the needle channels of the needle bed, each said needle having an anterior first needle butt always projecting from the needle bed and a posterior second needle butt which sinks into the needle bed under the resilience of its own flexible shank, displacing jacks (pushers) located behind the flexible shank needles, each said jack having an operating butt and a forward end which is displaceable under the flexible shaft of the flexible shank needle for selectively lifting the second needle butt, jacquard jacks located behind and slideable on the displacing jacks and a cam system arranged symmetrically about its central longitudinal axis for selecting and operating the needles and jacks and which, in the region of the second needle butts, has at least two needle sinkers displaceable in the cam plane.
Such a flat-bed knitting machine is known for example from DE 35 23 989 C1. In this patent the displacing jacks are formed as arresting or locking jacks which allow the second needle butts to be selectively lifted into a working position for engaging with cams of the cam-system. This known flat-bed knitting machine enables the needle channels to be milled without interruption, i.e., at a single pass with a constant milling-depth, without affecting the machine's full knitting capabilities including those of transferring stitches and loops, possibly of different withdrawal depths i.e. sizes, in the same row.